So far those subscription-only services are the only semi-mainstream media outlets I’ve found that are covering the whistleblower court case being pursued by gadfly and professional pain-in-the-side Hugh Kaufman of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Apparently there has been discussion of the 9/11 Manhattan pollution coverup, hazardous waste in fertilizer, and more. The trial is before a Department of Labor administrative court, and considers EPA’s appeal of a previous Labor board ruling that Kaufman was fired for being “too effective” in his job.

Former EPA administrators Christine Todd Whitman and Bill Ruckelshaus yuck it up with current EPA head Stephen JohnsonPhoto/EPA

The P-I was one of the few media outlets to cover former EPA Secretary Christine Todd Whitman’s dismantling of the office where Kaufman worked, the EPA Ombudsman’s Office, in 2002. Kaufman was the No. 2 man there, answering to Robert Martin, who we consider something of a native son since he’s a member of Washington’s Makah Indian Tribe. The office specialized in hearing the complaints of citizens living near Superfund sites.

The acerbic Kaufman has a long history of criticizing the very agency where he was employed. And in 1998, EPA made it official, appointing him to the ombudsman’s office. But he was axed, along with Martin, and questions came up immediately about Administrator Whitman’s husband’s ties to a bank with interests in a Denver Superfund site. She was later cleared by the agency’s inspector general.

Online, the only recounting of the trial I could find was a Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility press release. Forunately, an appeal to the Society of Environmental Journalists listserv turned up a piece by Katie Boyle* of Greenwire. It’s subscription-only, but I’ll tell you a few tidbits under the fair use doctrine:

EPA attorney Charlie Starrs, according to Boyle, contended the case was all about Kaufman’s aforementioned style, saying he “had a fairly high opinion of himself, to put it gently. It’s not a matter of what he did, but how he did it.” Kaufman’s lawyer, Regina Markey, countered:

Hugh, one of the founders of the agency, was relegated to library work in a small cubicle. His voice and the voice of the American people were silenced.

P-I researcher Marsha Milroy also unearthed a story by Inside Washington publications, publishers of Inside EPA, another subscription-only service. It reveals:

Kaufman’s attorney, Regina Markey, attempted to bring Kimberly Flynn — a member of the Community-Labor Coalition, an organization involved in the environmental impacts of the trade center collapse — to testify on Kaufman’s behalf. But Burke blocked Flynn from testifying, saying that her testimony was irrelevant because the case centers on EPA actions that occurred before the trade center collapse.

Kaufman is an odd duck, to say the least. His professional work, of course, did not endear him to the agency’s professional staff. For example, in Idaho’s Silver Valley, where we have documented the effects of decades of mining abuses, Kaufman came down on the side of mine owner and EPA nemesis Bob Hopper.

I heard from at least one D.C. journalist who spent some time at the labor board’s proceeding, but concluded the material in question was all rehash.

Kaufman’s whisteblowing stretches back to the Carter administration. He was active in putting the spotlight on questionable EPA decisions under the Reagan administration’s Anne Gorsuch Burford, who was forced to resign. William Ruckelshaus, now of Seattle, stepped in to rebuild the agency.

*A different reporter was originally credited with this story. Our apologies, Ms. Boyle.